On 25 June 2026, the UK’s Export Control Joint Unit announced a new consolidated Dual-Use Open General Export Licence through Notice to Exporters 2026/14.
The reform merges the existing EU member states Dual-Use OGEL and General Export Authorisation 001 into a single open licence with one registration and one reference number.
The ECJU projects the consolidation will save exporters more than 500 individual licence applications per year, reducing administrative burden significantly.
The new licence extends open licence coverage to South Korea, Singapore, Chile, Uruguay and the British Overseas Territories, expanding the trusted destination network considerably.
The ECJU’s decision to add these destinations was based on a data-led review of historic licensing decisions, which found exports to the new destinations to be consistently approved and low risk.
Critically, this reform represents export facilitation rather than a relaxation of controls, with the underlying control lists and SPIRE registration requirements remaining entirely unchanged.
A parallel measure introduced in May will require exporters to enter their OGEL licence reference in the licence field on the Customs Declaration Service for all tangible exports.
This CDS declaration condition, introduced through Notice to Exporters 2026/13, brings open-licence exports into line with Standard Individual Export Licences and Open Individual Export Licences.
Once the condition applies, inclusion of the licence reference becomes an enforcement matter for HMRC, and an incorrect declaration could constitute a criminal offence under section 167 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979.
Where a freight forwarder declares on an exporter’s behalf, the exporter must supply the correct reference and instruction to ensure compliance.
If a reference is missed, a CDS entry can be amended before clearance or afterwards via form C1700, with the resulting Export Entry Reference required to be retained.
The ECJU is encouraging exporters to begin quoting their OGEL or GEA licence reference on CDS now, ahead of formal updates to the licences.
Of the five newly added destinations, only South Korea participates in all four multilateral export control regimes: the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Singapore, Chile and Uruguay participate in none of the four regimes, while Chile has held candidate status for the Wassenaar Arrangement since 2015.
This divergence means end-use, end-user and diversion-risk screening remain important despite the expanded permissions offered under the new consolidated OGEL.
The reform also widens post-Brexit divergence from the EU, whose Union General Export Authorisation EU001 under Regulation (EU) 2021/821 does not cover South Korea, Singapore, Chile, Uruguay or the British Overseas Territories.
Under the Windsor Framework, EU dual-use law continues to apply in Northern Ireland, meaning this consolidated OGEL authorises exports from Great Britain only and does not cover Northern Ireland shipments.
Exporters currently relying on either predecessor licence should reread the consolidated conditions carefully and confirm whether their existing arrangements carry across without requiring process updates.